Special Issues

Special Issue Proposals, International Journal of Education Through Art 

The International Journal of Education through Art (IJETA) normally publishes one special issue each year. Proposals for special issues must be based on a topic related to the focus and scope of IJETA. Special issues provide an excellent opportunity to summarise the state-of-the-art on a specific topic, exchange perspectives and develop new theoretical approaches. 

Proposals for a special issue should have a well-articulated unifying theme and should describe state-of-the-art, leading edge research and practice on education through art. A special issue will typically include a review article of research in the area of focus, articles and visual essays that report complementary lines of evidence, or contrasting research methodologies. 

In order to help potential Guest Editors to prepare special issue proposals, and the IJETA Editorial Executive to evaluate them, the instructions below have been provided.

There is no submission form, but the proposal must contain the following information: 

  1. Name and affiliation of Guest Editor(s). 
  2. Concise CV and list of major publications of Guest Editor(s). 
  3. A provisional title for the special issue. 
  4. A general summary (max. 1 page) describing the general focus and aims of the special issue. Justification for dedicating an entire issue of IJETA to this special issue topic: what is its broad appeal and what are its projected theoretical, practical and policy implications for the field?
  5. An optional list of authors that have agreed to submit a contribution to the special issue (i.e., a list of names with affiliations) as well as an overview of the titles of their contributions (and preferably preliminary abstracts). 
  1. Guest Editors are asked to include a list of potential reviewers in their proposal. It is important for both reviewers and Guest Editors to adhere to the timing standards set by the journal.
  1. Reference to any approach that is common to the contributions of the special issue

 

NOTES

  • Details of any other special issues or special sections/themed content that have been published, or will be published, by other journals and which are devoted to the proposed or a closely related topic. In such cases, potential Guest Editors should show how their proposed special issue is unique and innovative in comparison, while explaining how it will add to the existing literature.
  • Potential Guest Editors should explicitly agree to adhere to current IJEtA editorial policies, processes and prompt turnaround times (please see below) and to using the online submission and manuscript tracking system. These editorial procedures include a rigorous peer-review process that ensures that only the highest quality manuscripts will be selected for inclusion in the special issue.
  • Potential Guest Editors should select up to six articles and up to three visual essays to be included in the special issue and also write an introduction to the special issue. If too few submissions reach the required high standard for publication, the Principal Editor may publish a themed issue also containing regular papers or cancel the special issue entirely.

Manuscripts submitted to a special issue should to adhere to IJEtA focus and scope and author guidelines.

  • The Guest Editors will screen initial submissions for their general adherence to the IJETA guidelines and the theme of the special issue. Good quality submissions that meet the Journal’s focus and scope, but which do not meet the specifications of the special issue, may be recommended to the Principal Editor for consideration for publication in a normal issue. Although formal copy editing occurs after manuscripts are accepted, Guest Editors should not accept manuscripts with a poor standard of English or which include terms that might be unfamiliar to the journal's international interdisciplinary readership
  • The process for handling submissions to a special issue is almost identical to that for regular submissions to IJETA. The use of a guest editorial team and selected reviewers allows for highly focused expert feedback and considerable development of the submitted manuscripts. All manuscripts are submitted to our online submission system. Guest Editors should assign suitable reviewers to each manuscript to be sent out for review. The Guest Editor will receive the reviews for each manuscript, make a decision about its status (decline, revise or accept), and communicate that decision to the corresponding author. All correspondence, including review invitations, review comments and decision letters, is channelled through the online submission system. This process should be completed for every submission until all manuscripts are ready for final editorial decision (accept or reject). Authors are notified of decisions as they are made by the Guest Editors. Guest Editors see all submissions to the special issue through to final decision and recommend up to six articles and up to three visual essays for inclusion in the special issue to the Principal Editor. In the event that more submissions are considered acceptable, the Guest Editors may recommend to the Principal Editor that they be published in regular issues of the journal. Ultimately, the Principal Editor decides which manuscripts to include in the special issue.
  • Turnaround times. Naturally, authors wish to receive both timely and constructive reviews and decisions for their submissions. Therefore, reviewers are asked to comment within one month and reminders are sent to reviewers once their review becomes overdue. Guest Editors are also given a one-week deadline for suggesting reviewers or drafting a decision letter after all the reviews have been received. The editorial process seeks to secure the same timely performance for special issue submissions as that provided for regularly submitted manuscripts. 

EVALUATING SPECIAL ISSUE PROPOSALS

The Principal Editor and the editorial executive will evaluate special issue proposals.  As part of the evaluation process, the editorial team may also ask experts on the special issue topic to evaluate the proposal. We anticipate making a decision and notifying the authors no later than one month after receiving the submission. Evaluation criteria include: 1) novelty and timeliness of the topic; 2) the extent to which the special issue will advance our understanding and break new ground for future research; 3) coherence of the proposed papers and thoroughness of the proposal; 4) relevance for the journal’s readership. 

A special issue contains about 150 printed journal pages. Each issue normally contains an Editorial: 4-6 Articles, 2-3 Visual Essays and 2-3 reviews. 

If the proposal is accepted, the Guest Editor(s) will agree a production schedule with the Principal Editor. It is vital that the deadlines agreed are honoured. 

Special issue proposals should be submitted to the Principal Editor at ijetaeditor.tarawinters@insea.org